Cork rod forming machine and the like



Feb. 20, 1940. 'J. M. BINDER CORK ROD FORMING MACHINE AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Au 30, 1935 INVENTOR Y Z 4 a a w X 1 MN 7 a a 1 W r1 J 1 m 1 WW 1 7 v 0 4 liv 3 J 5 3 4 M INDER C/OHNM B ATT RNEY Feb. 20, 1940. J ND w 2,190,859

' CORK ROD FORMING MACHINE AND THE LIKE F'iled Aug. 50,, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet? I VENTBE? don/v M. INDER Feb. 20, 1940.

J. M. BINDER coax ROD FORMING MA HINE AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 30. 1935 CJ-OII-IN MINVE M WW M W 5 ATTOR N Feb.20, 1940. B, R 2,190,859

CORK ROD FORMING MACHINE AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 50, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 H 1 "I 5 9 v Z l N V E N TO R (JOHN M BINDER WM Q ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 20, 1940 Conn non FORMING MACHINE -LIKE- AND THE John M. Binder; New Hyde ParkQN. Y., as- Signor of onehalf to Garvin Bottle Cap Corn, l

a New York, N. Y.

ApplicationAugust so, .1935, Serial, No. 38,540

Claims.

This invention relates to machines for forming rods of. tightly packed granulated cork mixed with suitable binder, said rods being adapted to be sliced into discs for use as liners for bottle crown caps and forother purposes. 1

The invention contemplates the provision of a simple, rapid mechanism for compressing into tubes a mixture of. granulated cork and'binder,

. said tubes being moved intermittently. in relation to charging plungers of progressively diminishing length and after at least two charging strokes of the plimgers. i The invention further contemplates theprovision of mechanism for forming a cylinderof cork of uniform compactness throughout it length and diameter..

.The invention further contemplates the provision of improved means for moving granulated cork from the hopper to a positiomwhere the plungers act to charge and compress said-cork into the tubes.

machine.

The invention also contemplates the provision of means for obviating the tendency of a filled tube, through expansion ofthe cork therein,

binding in the mechanism and thereby impairing the efiiciency and smooth operation of the The foregoing primary features and objects of the invention and other corollary' features are realized in the preferred embodiment of the machineherein disclosed the same being set :forth in the following detailed specification which is.

based on the accompanying drawings. H

In the drawings: i

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a machin T incorporating the features of the invention. 5 Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view as taken alon the line 3- 3 of Figure 1. l i

Fig. 4. is an enlarged plan sectional View as taken along the. line 4-4 ofFigure 1 Fig. 5 is a broken vertical sectional View on the line 5M5 of Figure 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively vertical sectional detail and fragmentary plan views of the means for transferring granulated cork from the hopper tothe charging position.

Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively similar views with.

the parts in anotherposition, Figure 9 being a section on line 9-5. of Figure 8.

i Fig. 10 is a brokenenlarged plan sectional View Yon the line lt--lt of Figure 3.

The machine generally comprises a table f l5 supported upon legs it, and rigid upright posts-I! supported'on thetable and provided with across imparted as by means of the belt 21.

tie l8 between the upper ends thereof. .In this I manner there is provided a rigid frame for supporting the moving mechanism of the machine. Beneath the table and journalled in the legs Hi there is preferably provided a main shaft 19 having a gear 2@ in mesh with a pinion 2| on the shaft 22. The shaft 22 is provided withga gear 23 in mesh with a pinion 2 5 on the shaft 25,

and on this shaft there is provided meanssuch as. the pulley 26 to which rotary motion may be In this manner, and by employing proper gearing ratios among the mentioned gears, a uniform rotation at a desired speed is'imparted to theshaft 19;

The shaft I3 is preferably extended beyond thelegs It and these extensions serve to mount large discs 28. Adjacent the periphery of each of these discs there isconnectedpas at 29, one

end of a p-itman rod to, the other end of which is pivotally connected, asat 3!, to a cross-head 32 slidably engaged on the posts H. The crosshead 32 serves to rigidly support a plurality of equally spaced cork charging plungers 33. These plungers are preferably of successively shorter length from left to'right as viewed from the front of the machine. Since. it is apparent thatthe discs 28 act as cranks,their rotation'imparts a hence to the plungers. i \The tubes into which the granulated cork is to be packed are shown at .34 and move intermittently from right to left, then in an arc, and then fromleft to right in registering alignment with the plungers 33; These tubes are moved and guided by the following mechanism. i

Theshaft i9 is provided with acne to one drive connection, such as the chain 35, with a countershaft 36 journalled att'l beneath the table 5 5. Theshaft 36 is provided with a gear 38 meshing with a gear 39 of twice the size on the shaft Ml which is mounted in one of the journals 31. Fixed either to the shaft 36 or to the gear 38,

. there is preferably provided an arm 4| which may have a roller 42 on its end. The gear- 39 or its shaft 49 may be similarly provided with any arm; 43.

A link 44 may be pivoted at 45 to the under surface of the table and the free end of saidwlink ispreferably pivotally connected as at 45 to an intermediate portion of a lever M provided with a lug 48 for engagement by the roller 42 and a similar lug 49 for engagement by the arm 43.

These lugs are preferablyprovided at or adjacent the pivot point 46.

The other end of the lever M is preferably pivlreciprocatory movement to the cross-head and otally connected at 513 to an arm rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft 52. The end of the arni 5 i supports a pawl 53 engaged with a ratchet wheel 54 fixed to the shaft 52. I,

The portion of the shaft 52 which projects above the table I5 is provided with av pair of spaced sprocket wheels respectively 55 and 55, and in spaced relation with the shaft 52 there is provided an idler shaft 5'! having the respectively spaced sprockets 58 and 59. About the sprockets 55 and 53 is trained a chain 60 and in a similar manner a chain 6!! is trained about the sprockets 56 and59. Both chains 66 and 6! are provided with outstanding fingers 62. The adjacent fingers are spaced for the reception of the tubes 34,

the front bank, i. e., those which move'towards the left being supported in the ledge 63 and guided by the rail 54,. and the rear bank, those complete reciprocation of the plungers, and therefore, will move the lever 41 towards the left (Figure 5) when it engages the projection 48 on said lever. Since the shaft 40 rotates only ohhalf of a revolution during each full revolution ofthe shaft 33, due to the one to two gearing between these shafts, the" arm 43 will engage to move the lever 4! towards the right only after. two complete revolutions of the arm 4|. It follows then that the ratchet wheel 54 will be advanced once for each two ,reciprocations of the the" provision of suitable gearing between the.

shafts 36 and 43. It should be understood, how

plunger and hence the tubes 34 will be similarly moved.

' Of courseg if it is desired to move the tubes only after three or more reciprocations of the plungers, this'may be readily accomplished by ever, that the movement of the tubes occurs only 'when'the' plungers are raised and the mechanism is timed to accomplish this.

"Granulated cork issupplied for charging the tubes as follows: I

A hopper 6! is positioned in the upper part of the frame, its bottom terminating in a throat plate 1 58.

front to back there is positioned a feed regulator Below this plate and slidable from 69 having a plurality of tines 1U spaced alternately with the plungers 33. The ends. of the tines-are closed by a plate H to form pockets 12. These pockets are movable from a position in register with the opening 13 in the throat plate (Figure 6) to a position out of register therewith (Figure 8 a The above'movement is accomplished through the medium of connections '14 having rollers 75 enga'geable with suitable cams 16 on the shaft T! which is driven from the shaft 36 by the gearing l8, vertical shaft 19, and gear BKLor'by chain 70 and sprocket means if desired.

- The feed regulator 69 may be accurately ad- 'justed in its positions" by means of the'pins 8| engaged in sockets 82 which are carried by a member 83 having portions adjustably movable in the pockets 12.

rigidly supported between the posts ll".

Immediately beneath the feediregulator there ispreferably positioned a carrier or pusher 85 which is moved in a manner 'similarto the feed .regulator by connectors 86 having rollers 81 engaged with the cams 83 on the shaft 11'. The front of the carrier or pusher is provided with spaced concave portions 89 movable in slots 90 formed between the tines 9| of a cork holder 92 Slots 9!] have arcuate walls of the same radius as the concavities of portions 39 so that when the pusher 85 is in theposition shown in Figs. 6 and 7, slots 90 become cylindrical bores or'chambers.

The bottom of. the holder 92 is provided with a fixed plate 93 provided with openings 94 in register with the plungers 33 and the top ends of the rear bank of tubes '34.

From the above it can be seen that the cork which falls into the pockets 12 of feed regulator 69 from the hopper is first moved towards the right, the top plate 83 of the feed regulator during the lattersmovement closing off the flow of cork from the hopper. Then as the carrier or pusher is moved towards the left, the cork in the pockets will fall into the holder. The feed regulator will then return for another charge of cork and the carrier will then move towards the right to push the cork in the holder slots towards the openings 94 so the cork may fall into the registering bank of tubes. It is then that the plungers move down to compress and pack the cork in said tubes.

The timed relation between feed regulator 69 having the pockets 12, and the slide or pusher 85 is such that when the feed regulator reaches its extreme advanced position the pusher simultaneously reaches its extreme retracted position as clearly indicated in Fig. 8. At this time the ,charge of granulated cork which has been fed from the hopper v6! to the pockets 12 will have been completely discharged into slots 90 of holder .92. As showntin'Figp6 when feed regulator 69 is in its extreme retracted. position pusher 85 v is in its extreme advanced position. In this relativeposi tion acharge of material is being fed into each pocket 12 from hopper 61 and the complete charge of the material which has beendischarged into holder 32 from pockets 12 has been carried or pushed by pusher 85 into the moulding or forming tubes 34, and during this act the.

cork has been partially compressed by the grad-- ual shortening of the holder by the advancing pusher. Introducing feed regulator 69 between hopper 61 and holder 97. considerably facilitates the feeding of .the material from the hopper to forming tubes, which is of utmost importance in a device of the character described herein. It affords a greater uniformity in distribution of the material during the formative stage as a complete, measured and predetermined charge is received first in each pocket'lZ before passing on i to be ultimately received in the molding tube to be compressed by the piston or plunger 33. The timing is so arranged that the pushers are simultaneously held in their extreme, advanced positions (Fig. 6) until plungers 33 have made their respective maximum advance into molding tubes 34. As the plungers retract the pushers correspondingly retract and on the return the pushers reachtheir extreme advanced positions be-{ fore the plungers 33 commence to enter the cylindrical' chamber formed by the pushers or slides 89 and holders 92.

This cycle of operation'is performed at least twice andthen the tubes are moved as previously described.

Since the plungers are of progressively shorter length in the direction of the movement cfthe tubes as they are filled, the leftmost tube will receive a small charge of cork which will be compressed by the leftmost plungers. As the leftmost tubes progress towards the right, they receive further charges of cork which are compressed by the shorter plungers until the tubes are finally filled with tightly packed granulated corlt and the filled tubes leave the machine by way of the tracks 35. The machine attendant inserts emptytubes in the .front bank as the machine continues its cycles of operation.

In order to insure proper flow of cork from the hopper, agitators such as 93; driven from the shaft ll may be employed and in addition a shalrer plate 8'! may be joggled across the hopper 39 carried by said shaft.

Although tightly packedin the tubes 3d, the

' throat as by means-of the bumps 98 on the disc corktherein expands to a certain. degree.

expansion can only manifest itself by a protrusicn oi the cork from the ends of the tube. This causes a filled tubeto become wedged between bottom or" the plate 93. and its supporting rail. To obviate this undesirable fault, the tubes in the filling position are supported only on opposite edges on theledgcs $5 and a bar lllfl is positioned with the ledges when the plungersJ are compacting the ccrlr and is moved down out of touch with the cork in the tubes when the tubes are being moved. This is accomplished as by com means ill! on the shaft 19, acting on rollers till! on extensions it'll connected to the bar 5 l As can be seen from the foregoing a machine has been which is considerably simpler than anymechanism heretofore constructed for the purpose, it is also apparent that various modifications be made in the structure and arrangement in the herein-disclosed elements.

The scope of r the following claims, therefore, should rather be determined invview of the prior art and not on the present specific embodiment of the machinep i It is believed from the above description that those skilled in the art will have no difficulty in understanding the construction, the method of i use operation of the device herein disclosed and a detailed discussion thereof is unnecessary. The invention is of simple and practical constructionand is adapted to accomplish among others all offthe objects and; advantages herein set forth.

Without further analysis, ,theforegoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others readily adapt can by applying current knowledge it forvarious applicationswithout omitting certain features, that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristicsof the generic or seecific aspects of this invention,

and therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and 1.. of equivalency of theiollowing claims.

.L cla u' 1. In a machine of theclass described, a plural ity of vertically arranged plungers, a plurality of tubes in vertical alignment with said plunger-s, means for intermittently moving said. tubes in relation to said plungers; means for supporting said tubes, means for causing said plungers to enter said tubes successively to compress mate-- rial withinthe tubesineans for supporting the two interconnected members having a diameter material at the lower ends of the tubes when the plungers are in the tubes, and means for remov ing said material supporting means during the mentioned movement'of the tubes.

2. In a machine of the class described, a frame comprising a table having a pair of spaced rigid tube on opposite portions of thebottom thereof,

a member adapted to contact the remainder of said tube bottom during the chargingof the tube, means for moving said member away from the bottom of the tube during the movement thereof. i

l. In a machine of the class described, an intcrmitten'tly moving tube adapted to becharged I with compressed material, means to support said tube on opposite portions of the bottom thereof,

a member adapted to contact the remainder of said tube bottom (lining the charging of the tube, and means comprising a' cam operated reciprocatory frame for moving said member away from the bottom of the tube during the movemeat thereof.

5. In a machine oflthe class described, an int'ermittently moving tube adapted to be charged with compressed material, means to support said tube on opposite; portionsof the bottom thereof, a member adapted to contact the remainder of said tube bottom during the charging of the tube, and meansfor moving said member. away from the bottom of the tube during theunovement thereof, said means comprising a frame con nected to said member, cam means for moving said frame whereby said member contacts the bottom of the tube during the charging thereof and is out of contact therewith during its movement. .1

'6. In a machine of .the class described, an intermitt ently .moving tube adapted to be charged with compressed material, means to support said tube on a portion of the bottom thereof, a member. adapted to contact another portion of the tube bottom during the changing of the tube,

and means for moving said member away from.

the bottom of the tube during movement thereof.

7. In a machine of the class described the combination of a plurality of tubes, said tubes being chargeable with material; a plurality of reciproeating plungers mounted to cooperate with said tubes to compress the material therein; means for reciprocating said plungers including a rotatable member; and means connecting said plunger reciprocating means to said tubes to intermittently move said tubes simultaneously in timed relation to the reciprocation of the plungers, said last named means including a ratchet, a pawl,

ciprocating said pawl, one of said last mentioned twice that of the other of said members, and means connecting the smaller of said members to said'rotatable member of the'plunger reciprocating means for rotating the smaller of said members at the same speed as said rotatable member of the plunger rotatable members for re- 7 reciprocating means, whereby the plungers are reciprocated twice for each movement of said tubes. i v

8. In a machine of the class described the combination of a plurality of tubes, said tubes being chargeable with material; a plurality of reciprocating plungers mounted to cooperate with said tubes to compress the material therein; means for reciprocating said plungers including a rotatable member; and means connecting said plunger reciprocatingmeans to said tubes to intermittently move said tubes simultaneously in timed relation to the reciprocation of the plungers, said last named meansincluding a rotatable element, a reciprocatable element engageable with said rotatable elementto impart rotation thereto, two interconnected rotatable members for reciprocating said reciprocatable element, one of said last mentioned members having a diameter at least twice that of the other of said members, and means connecting the said other of said members to said rotatable member of the plunger reciprocating means for rotating the said other of said members at the same speed as said rotatable member of the plunger reciprocating means, whereby the plungers are reciprocated at least twice for each movementoi said tubes.

9. In a machine of theclass described the combination of a plurality of tubes; said tubes being chargeable wi'thmaterial; a plurality of reciproeating plungers mounted to cooperate with said tubes to compress the material therein, means for reciprocating said plungers including a rotatablemember; means connecting said plunger reciproeating means to said tubes to intermittently move said tubes simultaneously in time relation to the reciprocation of the plungers, said last named means including a rotatable element, a reciprocatable element engageable with said rotatable element to impart rotation thereto, two interconnected rotatable members forreoiprocating said reciprocatable element, one oi said last mentioned members having a diameter at least twice that of the other of said members, an means connecting the said other of said members to said rotatable member of the plunger reciprocating means for rotating the said other of said members at the same speed as said rotatable member of the plunger reciprocating means, whereby the plungers are reciprocated at least twice for each movement of said tubes; and

means for feeding material to said tubes between successive compression actions of said plungers.

10. In a machine of the calss described the combination of a plurality of tubes, said tubes being chargeable with material; a plurality of reciprocating plungers mounted to cooperate with said tubes to compress the material therein;

means for reciprocating said plungers includingv a rotatable member; means connecting said intermittently move said tubes simultaneously in timed relation to the reciprocation of the plungers, said last named means including a rotatable element, a reciprocatable element engageable with said rotatable element to impart rotation thereto, two interconnected rotatable members e for reciprocating said reciprocatable element, one

of said last mentioned members having a diameter at least twice that of the other of said members, and means connecting the said other of said members to saidrotatable member of the plunger reciprocating means for rotating the said other of said members'at the same speed as said rotatable member of the plunger reciprocating means,- whereby the plungers are reciprocated at least twice for each movement of said tubes; and means for feeding material to said tubes between successive compression actions of said plungers, said feeding means including a hopper in off-set relation with the tops of said tubes and means for moving material discharged from said hopper to a position immediately above said tubes.

JOHN M. BINDER.

plunger reciprocating means to said tubes to 

